Saturday, April 30, 2016

The feminine ideal and transactional sex: Navigating respectability and risk in Swaziland

Women who engage in
transactional sex are not only at increased risk of HIV and intimate partner
violence, but also face social risks including gossip and ostracism. These
social and physical risks may be dependent on both what a woman expects and
needs from her partner and how her community perceives the relationship. Gender
theory suggests that some of these social risks may hinge on whether or not a
woman's relationship threatens dominant masculinity.

We conducted a qualitative
study in Swaziland from September 2013 to October 2014 to explore transactional
sex and respectable femininity through the lens of hegemonic gender theory.
Using cultural consensus modeling, we identified cultural models of
transactional sex and conducted 16 in-depth interviews with model key
informants and 3 focus group discussions, for a total of 41 participants.

We
identified 4 main models of transactional relationships: One typified by
marriage and high social respectability, a second in which women aspire towards
marriage, a third particular to University students, and a fourth "sugar
daddy" model. Women in all models expected and received significant
financial support from their male partners. However, women in less respectable
relationships risked social censure and stigma if they were discovered, in part
because aspects of their relationship threatened hegemonic masculinity.

Conversely, women who received male support in respectable relationships had to
carefully select HIV risk reduction strategies that did not threaten their
relationship and associated social status. Research and programming efforts
typically focus only on the less socially respectable forms of transactional
sex.

This risks reinforcing stigma for women in relationships that are already
considered socially unacceptable while ignoring the unique HIV risks faced by
women in more respectable relationships.